11pm arrival santo domingo: safety?

[abstatic]

Hello everyone.

I'm not the most experienced traveller and my plane does not arrive into Santo Domingo until 11:10pm.

I don't speak Spanish and I'm a little nervous about getting in so late. I was just wondering if anyone knew if:

a) will I be okay/safe getting a taxi into the city?
b) do you know of a good hostel that offers airport pickup?

If you don't think that I should be worried about getting a taxi, then I'll probably just stay at a regular hotel. It would be nice to keep it under $55US.

Thanks!

[Ken]

Stay at a regular hotel. There will be taxis available when you come out of the terminal.

[Dolores]

Check http://dr1.com/directories/index.shtml#Hotels_Resorts for a selection of hotels in Santo Domingo.

[NALs]

Originally Posted by abstatic

a) will I be okay/safe getting a taxi into the city?

As has been stated previously, you will see taxis outside of the terminal. Go to a car that is marked, negotiate a price prior to getting in the car, and off you go.

As a rule of thumb, once you are in Santo Domingo, don't get into any taxi in the streets. This is for your safety. Simply call or have a hotel employee call a taxi for you (known as radio taxis).

If you want to go on the very cheap, I suppose a concho is an option, but I would suggest for you to stick to radio taxis, simply for the safety. Don't really have much to worry about, but such words means nothing if you are the victim of crime, so best avoid all possibilities.

Originally Posted by abstatic

b) do you know of a good hostel that offers airport pickup?

For the price you want, I would suggest Hotel Bella Vista. I don't have their contact data, but I'm sure its available somewhere on DR1.

Originally Posted by abstatic

Thanks!

No problema!

-NALs

[Dolores]

The taxi union should have a printed list of prices. I called the union at the airport, 809 549-0327 and was told RD$800 to Julieta. That should be the, which is quite a central address, similar to most hotels. That is roughly US$25. For an evening ride, you shouldn't pay more than US$30.

[Chirimoya]

I paid RD$900 coming home from the airport last night. The airport union is called something like 'Sichola'. You come out of the terminal, and will see men holding up signs saying 'sichola taxi', they then take you to the next taxi in line. Agree the price in advance. Aim for US$25, pay no more than 30.

[abstatic]

thanks everyone!

when you say negotiate? i mean... it's 11pm and I'm a foreigner - so I guess they have the upper hand. But, I'll give it a shot!


thanks again.

[Dolores]

You should not be charged more than US$30 for the trip into the city. Your parameters are US$25-US$30. They usually charge more for evening travel, but refuse to pay more than US$30. Tell them you had someone call (when you let them know that you know their telephone, they will know you are telling the truth). If the next taxi wants to charge more than US$30, say you will wait for the next one.